Rumbles in Wisconsin

Update 6:15pm = If you look at the recent Skywatch Live Radar loop you can see a thin band of green sweeping across the IL/WI border. This is an outflow boundary from the thunderstorms that pushed through central Wisconsin earlier. As rain cooled air starts to descend out of the top of a thunderstorm it rushes to the ground and spreads out. This boundary of cooler air has pushed through Janesville, Beloit, and Lake Geneva and it has brought in a refreshing breeze that has dropped temperatures into the 70s. You've got to love the subtleties of weather!

Update 5:42pm = As expected the WATCH has already been allowed to expire. Our atmosphere has too much warm air aloft right now, which is acting like a lid on the atmosphere. This won't allow much in the way of upward convection to occur meaning our thunder threat is quite low. Find a way to stay cool tonight, because the heat across the Stateline will continue to be the main weather headline in the short term.

Original Post = As of 3:35pm, Rock and Walworth County have been placed under a SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH, which is in effect until 6pm. The storms that are meeting severe criteria are still north of Madison at this hour and are moving in more of an easterly direction than a southerly one. The watch was originally up in central Wisconsin. From the looks of it, this appears to be more of a precautionary move than anything. I don't expect any of these storms to make it into northern Illinois, but a couple of storms could scrape through southern Wisconsin around dinnertime. I will provide much more analysis if these storms get closer to our viewing area. -ADAM